Restoration of Honor
by RogerDering
Summary: Cloud had all but lost hope of making it into SOLDIER, but after unwittingly escaping Hojo's clutches along with Zack his dream may not seem to far beyond his grasp anymore. But is the dream still worth it? Cloti, Zerith


**Chapter One**

Eliza's POV

I frightfully kept my shotgun aimed at the boy who had just done the impossible.

Moments ago I entered the Nibelheim Mako Reactor to witness this boy, a 16 year old boy kill Sephiroth, the legendary SOLDIER.

I had fought alongside Cloud once before, when they assigned to saveguard a professor in Midgar, back then he had astounded me with his skill with a sword and strength, splitting one of AVALANCHE' prized Ravens, their own Mako-enhanced experimental troops in half from the top down with one of their own swords, but this was on a whol other level.

I was still in a state of shock when I heard heavy footsteps, indicating large man aproaching behind me at murderous tempo.

"WHERE'S SEPHIROTH? I'LL KILL HIM WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS!" the man boomed. At another time I would be sorely tempted to mock the man's overconfidence and tell him to stay behind me for his own protection. The man's reputation was wellknown to me, Zangan i a martial artist that had many students inside the Shinra corporation and out, nevertheless he should count himself lucky for having arrived at the scene so late.

"Dead." I heard myself mumble. Next thing I knew Zangan had moved in front of me and grabbed my shoulders roughly. "You expect me to buy a fairytale? Where are you Shinra lot hiding him?" "Sephiroth fell into the Lifestream, a few minutes ago. He's gone…" The martial artist looked into my eyes for a moments or two then let go and wordlessly advanced further into the Mako Reactor. He stopped in front of Cloud who had collapsed. "Oi, I think this ones still alive. He's one of yours. Can you take care of him? I need to find my student." One of yours meaning a member of Shinra, I take. At this point, I doubt he'd see it the same way. "Yeah, I got healing Materia." I eventually spoke.

At this point I finally got my act together, lowered my shotgun and ran over to the kid. While I took out a LIFE Materia and started healing his wound I began to consider how I should best proceed. Shinra didn't have a very good reputation for taking this kind of incident lying down. I knew this wasn't a normal Reactor. An inner chamber had been entered, an alarm had been set off immediately, helicopters had already been dispatched from Junon and would be arriving in a few hours. Perhaps it would be best if us, lucky few survivors took some time to lie low for a while, I thought.

After a minute or two the hole the Masamune had made in Cloud's chest had closed but he had lost a lot of blood. He wouldn't be up in a while. I slung his arm over my neck and got up to move throught the catwalk, into the doorway Zangan had disappeared into. On the way we passed the mayor of Nibelheim, quite dead.

"Wow."

That's all I had to say when I reached next chamber of the Nibelheim Mako Reactor. Rows of pods large enough to contain people were laid out in front of her, on headlevel a windows from which you clearly see the glowing Mako inside, there was stairway inbetween the pods leading up to gate that had the word "JENOVA" boldly stamped above it. The door was shattered into a thousand pieces. Clearly, that was the chamber of which entry set off the alarm. Zangan was tending to his student and daughter of the late mayor, Tifa at the base of the stairs. Where Sephiroth had pierced her father and Cloud, Tifa had a huge slash across her chest from which she was bleeding heavily, it seemed as though she was still breathing however. Zangan had taken out his own CURE Materia and seemed like he was slowly stabilising her.

Laying forgotten facedown on the stairs behind the master and student, was SOLDIER First Class Zack Fair. He didn't have his own pool of blood as the other victims, but he seemed quite roughed up. I put Cloud down against the wall on moved over to the man with black spiky hair. Zack is another old friend, after the mass desertion a few years back Zack quickly rose up to SOLDIER's second best operative, after Sephiroth obviously. He had undergone many missions alongside the Turks and was a good friend of Cissnei and their current second-in-command, Tseng. I also knew him to be hopeless flirt, that had ladyfriends everywhere, most prominently the #1 priority that the Turks had been assigned to surveil, the last Ancient Aerith Gainsborough.

Considering the other infantrymen had been filled as missing after a bridge collapsed when the investigative team climbed the mountain a week ago, this meant all Shinra assets were now accounted for. As I started reviving Zack with LIFE Materia I also took out my cell and dailed Tseng's number, who was among the crew enroute to Nibelheim by chopper.

I knew that any witnesses to Sephiroth's crimes would not be allowed to go public with their testimony. But that shouldn't mako any difference to me. As a member of the Turks, my loyalty is to the Shinra corporation, right?

As I looked into Zack's eyes as conciousness returned to him, I found my loyalties split down the middle.

Zack's POV

A blurry image slowly shifted into focus in front of me. Brown eyes, brown hair, a cute face, a mouth trying not to smile, a ponytail. "Hey there," I began. Now smiling in spite of herself Eliza put a finger on my lips to silence me as she seemed to be waiting on the phone for someone. I slowly became aware of a splitting headache, and then remembered the events that caused it. "Did Cloud do it? Is Sephiroth-" The Turk nodded grimly. I slowly go ton my feet and looked around. Zangan was kneeling on the floor with Tifa in his arms. Cloud was up against the wall.

"Sephiroth…" I found myself stricken with grief. The elite SOLDIER had been a friend I could rely on more then anybody, it was he who inspired me to join SOLDIER, as he had so many of my comrades. The Buster Sword was lying on the Floor, covered in the blood of one of my fellow SOLDIERs. It's a mercy that Angeal isn't alive to see this day. As I picked up the sword I noticed Zangan not eyeing me to friendly. Yeah, people here have lost their homes and families, here I am mourning the man responsible.

"Tseng, this is Eliza reporting in … I'm at the Mako Reactor … No, no sign of Sephiroth, I found the mayor's body, there's nobody else here right now…"

I turned my head in wonder. Eliza was covering for us with Tseng. Tseng, I couldn't help but reflect. I knew him for years but apparantly Eliza is sure he'll sell me out for a nickel. Some friends, I have.

My gaze fell on Cloud's Shinra infantryman helmet.

"_Oh, and are there any blond guys in SOLDIER? Well, it's just a dream... Any girl would love to have blond SOLDIER guy protect her when she's in a pinch."_

I grabbed the helmet, put it back on Cloud's head and picked him up.

"I think it's time we hustle old man, wouldn't want to make a liar out of the pretty lady, now would we." I said winking at Eliza.

I'll do right by these friends, at least. In this I'll make you proud, Angeal. That's a promise.

Author's note: All these all-caps words are gonna start getting annoying soon, I think.


End file.
